Some people call me a pedant, and they may be right. Take language: why can’t people just speak and write English properly? I know I’m not alone in getting bent out of shape when confronted with misplaced apostrophes or glaring spelling mistakes. But, to be frank, who am I to judge? A native English speaker, yes, but does that give me, or any of us, the right to decide what is right and wrong when it comes to language? Continue reading →

This is an experiment. I just read something about testing the limits of online translation websites and basically, I wanted to try it for myself. I realise I’m probably preaching to the converted here, but this brought me a lot of enjoyment, not to mention procrastination potential, so I hope you don’t mind me sharing. Continue reading →

What Next?

– A message from Helen Butt, at the St Andrews Careers Centre

As a Modern Language graduate of the University of St Andrews, I remember that feeling towards the end of my course, when I knew I had to start thinking about what to do with myself after graduation. In those days, with no internet and the lack of literature on career options, deciding what to do after university was rather difficult. Continue reading →

Arguably the creators of cinema, Auguste and Louis Lumière were two remarkable brothers who made their mark on the world at the end of the 19th century. Born in Besançon, they were quickly introduced into the world of photography and art by their father, an artist and owner of a photography business. In 1861 they moved as a family to the Monplaisir quarter of Lyon, nowadays called Monplaisir- Lumière, an acknowledgement of their contribution to cinema and to the city. The Lumière mansion remains a great part of the history of this quarter and has been converted into a museum charting the astonishing lives of these two brothers. Continue reading →

A fantastical twist on 1930s Barcelona

La sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón was published in 2001 and quickly rose to be one of the best-selling novels in Spain. The novel opens with a young Daniel Sempere in 1930s Barcelona, under the dictatorship of Franco. Daniel’s father takes him to a place called the Cemetery of Lost Books – a giant building, guarded by a gruff old man and filled with old out-of-print books. Daniel is told to go choose one, as a sort of initiation into the group of people responsible for taking care of the Cemetery. The novel he chooses is The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. Continue reading →

Hannah Brownlow

Tuscany, Italy

Ten immortal words: ten words that will either strike fear into the hearts of individuals, or usher in an overpowering and joyful nostalgia. I am wholeheartedly with the latter. I learnt the above by way of an organisation called ACLE. But what is the fun and what is the madness to which my title refers? Simply put – learning and teaching English.

ACLE is a non-profit organisation that teaches English to children across everyone’s favourite boot-shaped country, Italy. The founder, completely fed up with the hap-hazard way in which Italian children were taught English, decided he could do a lot better himself, so founded the company that, during the summer, teaches English at summer schools and, during the academic year, puts on English shows in schools nationwide. Bravo! Continue reading →

Modern French music is underrated. This is perhaps not something I would have said before my year abroad in France, when my knowledge of French music was limited to Jacques Brel, the French café music CD that my parents were given and the music from Amélie. Not only was I mistaken in assuming that all French songs must, at some point, contain an accordion solo, I had also never heard of the majority of groups and artists that I later discovered. Is this because English music is superior? Hardly. Having spent the better part of a year in northern France, I have emerged older, wiser and much more musically in tune. Continue reading →